Negroni Week is in its seventh year as an international celebration of the famous Italian cocktail of Campari, gin and red vermouth. For seven days, thousands of bars around the world will be championing the nearly 100-year-old cocktail and raising money for charitable causes.
Negroni Week was launched by Imbibe magazine in 2013 to celebrate one of the world’s great drinks, invented by Count Camillo Negroni in Florence in 1919 as a variation on the Americano substituting gin for soda. The International Bartenders Association (IBA) lists Campari as an official ingredient of the Negroni, and thus, there is no Negroni without Campari.
During Negroni Week, participating venues will be donating a portion of the sales of Negroni cocktails and related items to a charity of their choice. At the end of Negroni Week, Campari Australia will match the donation to the nominated charity of Australia’s highest donating individual on-premise venue (to a maximum amount of $5,000). Last year’s event involved 7,700 venues in 60 countries and succeeded in raising $1.5 million.
So how can you take part? Head down to one of the following top bars and order a Negroni, of course.
You might not be able to go back in time, but you can spend your nights drinking cocktails, listening to jazz and eating things with varying levels of melted cheese on them. At Palmer and Co the staff are dressed as flappers, there’s a live band and table service is the go here, so you can kick back and do a little toe-tapping while you wait for your Negroni to arrive. Purchase the mystery Negroni during Negroni Week and you'll be entered into a competition.
The Clock is an institution in the Sydney pub scene. The regal two-storey hotel occupies a commanding position on Surry Hills’ Crown Street. Trends come and go, but it seems there will always be a crowd at the Clock, and Negroni Week is no exception.
Charlie Parker’s is a snug, dark warren of comfy nooks for wooing, with a big imposing bar to sit at if you like some bartender chat with your drinks.
Upstairs at this old timers' pub it’s a whole different ball game – one that involves cocktails and retro snacks. Service here is polished, so expect to be shown to your seat and walked through the cocktail menu. Purchase the mystery Negroni during Negroni Week and you'll be entered into a competition.
Fratelli Fresh Darling Harbour is a vibrant Italian food and dining emporium located below the International Convention Centre Sydney Theatre. The 550-seat emporium serves housemade Neapolitan pizza, pasta, rotisserie-roasted meats and Italian desserts, pastries, gelato and treats. Fratelli Fresh Darling Harbour has added a little pizzazz to the drinking experience with Australia’s first Campari Bar that showcases an impressive line-up of cocktails, including six Negronis and seven Spritzes on tap.
The old Brooklyn Hotel is now a classically styled oyster and ale house where a sirloin steak is served on the bone and a pat of Café de Paris butter melts all over it. Cocktails are the name of the game at this CBD bistro, where a classic such as a Negroni goes well with a minute steak, and even better when ordering it benefits a charity.
The international pedigree of the Hilton’s cocktail bar is celebrated in a cocktail list divided by destination – Singapore, Puerto Rico, London, New York, Milan and Sydney. This is the kind of luxe bar you visit when you want to decompress in style. During Negroni Week, Zeta Bar will be transformed into a Negroni and Aperitivo fair, with a pop-up bar serving their special take on a Negroni.
This place is all about pizza, with the chefs resting the yeasted dough for up to three days before shaping it to not be too thin, resulting in a pizza that has a smooth, lighter texture than most. The Margherita is a standout – with a charred, bouncy crust and the perfect balance of tomato sauce and mozzarella. During Negroni Week, why not get talented bartender Frank to make you a classic Negroni while you wait?
The Winery is always packed. It doesn’t matter if it’s a school night, Sunday afternoon or just gone 5pm, people cannot get enough of the Crown Street drinking hole. Fairy lights twinkle over picturesque collections of garden benches, frangipani trees and sweet little cast-iron tables. Drop in during Negroni Week and get them to make you one.
Gowings Bar and Grill at the QT Sydney is a European style brasserie. They do a ripper of a Negroni – try it during Negroni Week.
Discover Time Out original video
